


Catch and Release

by JustaBluebird



Series: Biology and Ethology [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Assassin's Creed, Daredevil (TV), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha/Omega, Angst, Breeding, Dehumanization, Endangered Species, M/M, Mpreg, Regret, scientific study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-28 05:36:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6316723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustaBluebird/pseuds/JustaBluebird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Devil was found practically dead on the streets of Starling City. The wildlife conservationists think this is a good opportunity to introduce him to some of the locals of his kind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Catch and Release

The omega with the black mask cowered in the corner of the recovery room, picking at the bandages that covered his body. He curled into the nest of blankets the conservationists had collected from around the small facility, shivering. The room lighting, dimmed to a twilight glow, showed off the murals of cracked concrete and decaying architecture on the walls and floor. Hidden inside one of the walls was a one-way mirror, and a few conservationists observed as the omega sniffed the air, no doubt smelling the artificial city and dock smells they had sprayed around the room.

He had been found earlier that day collapsed in a dumpster in Starling City bleeding out from deep gashes all over his body. Medical reported that it looked like it was done with a Kusarigama, a chain-sickle, not commonly used outside feudal Japan. 

Obviously someone still used one. 

The head wildlife conservationist, a lady in a grey pencil skirt, sighed and flipped through the medical documents she had been handed by one of the veterinarians. 

“What do we know about him? Obviously he’s not a Starling City native, we would have noticed with all the surveillance we keep on rooftops to track Hood and his pup.”

The vet shook his head. “We don’t know where he came from, just that wherever it was he left in a hurry. These injuries are a few days old and look like he kept ripping them open instead of healing. Many of them are now infected on top of that. In normal situations, the assassino would find a way back to his nest to lick his wounds, but he didn't.” The vet paused and chewed his lip. “I would say… it’s possible his was driven out of his territory and has just been running since.”

“It would take a lot to do that.” The lady responded. “An assassino would sooner fight to the death than abandon something they are protecting. It would take a combination of things. Public outcry and prosecution for one, constant aggression and rejection by the humans around them, especially ones they once felt safe around, a compromised nest, and perhaps even the presence of another hostile assassino. That could even be where he got his wounds.”

“So there could be another wounded assassino out there?”

She grimaced. “Not necessarily. If this omega is so badly wounded, it's safe to say that his opponent is just as bad off, or worse. They could have been picked off after the fight ended, or could have actually been a human assassin that had covered themselves in assassino pheromones to lure and spook this little guy.” She let out a slow breath. “Either way, we need to get a feeling of where this guy is from. We’ll have to check the news for anything that we can link to him.”

\------------------------------------------

‘The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’ was too long of a name to put on the paperwork, so the healing omega was declared Devil. His lack of projectile weapons, in both the pockets of the clothing he turned up in and in the few blurry video clips they found, was a concern till the vets positively reported that Devil was blind. It seems he was gravely injured when he was a pup, rather than a genetic deformity, to the relief and horror of all the conservationists on staff.

Devil was steadily healing under the care of the conservationists. They tried to keep the contact minimum, introducing food into his room through compartment doors and using general anesthetic, either through his food or through the air, before moving him for his checkups. Mostly Devil slept or worried at his blankets, tearing them with his teeth and fingers. Discussion moved to when and where Devil should be released back into the wild. 

It was possible that wherever Devil was released he would make his way back to Hell’s Kitchen.  
Assassino’s, after all, are very protective of their territory, even if he did get run off. It was equally as likely he would try to establish a new territory though. The local omega Hood and his alpha pup Arsenal already have a claim on Starling City, but the situation brought up some interesting possibilities. If Arsenal was close to adulthood, then if he came across Devil he might try to begin a courtship and move to a new territory together. If Arsenal was still too young for such a thing, then it could be Hood who accepts Devil into his nest to help watch the pup. 

Stories and historical drawings of a large assassino creed in ancient Masyaf, a hundred strong, supports the theory that assassino’s developed to be solitary due to malicious poaching and lack of secure nests. One illustration in particular, of multiple omega’s grooming the same pup hints that maybe assassino’s, in their most natural state, are similar to lion prides. Multiple omega’s care for pups in a shared nest, making sure they are cared for while the other leave to go hunt. If this theory proved to be true, and Hood welcomed Devil into his nest, forming their own creed, then it would be a breakthrough for assassino’s behavioral research and conservation efforts. 

But it would need to be tested.

\------------------------------------------

“So the new one’s still out?” Detective Lance gruffed as he peeked into Devil’s transportation cage. 

“Mmm yeah. For about ten more minutes. We want to get him into the safety cage before we start placing his blankets around the building to spread his scent.”

Lance eyed the ten foot by ten foot cage that was bolted into the warehouse floor. It was made of a thick clear plastic permeated with small holes to let scent and sounds through. With the cage between Devil and Hood, there was no way they could hurt each other if things didn’t go as planned. 

Well, unless one of them broke the door. 

“If the Hood doesn’t like him you're gonna get him right out of here. We got an understanding right now, me and the Hood, and I don’t want any outsiders messing that up. Especially now with that pup of his, don’t want any bad influences.”

“Oh well” The conservationist scratched the back of his head “Devil’s been a sweetheart so far, But if this doesn’t work out we have a few other ideas where he could go. Gotham would certainly keep him busy, but maybe he would do better in Los Angeles or Las Vegas. Given his... condition, it might be hard for him to learn a whole new city by himself, so we are hoping that this will work out. But, uh, Hood has final say of course. That’s what this meet and greet is for.” 

Lance grunted as he watched Devil being moved into the larger cage. The unconscious assassino lay limp in the middle of the floor, fingers curled into one of the blankets he had been moved with. Devil’s all black attire was a bit different from Hood’s trademark green but Lance could see the similarities in the outfits. The most obvious one being, of course, their half masks. 

A few minutes after the last of the blankets had been hidden around the building, Devil began to stir. The conservationists, and Lance despite his protests of wanting to stay see Hood in person, retreated to a few rooms away to watch on hidden cameras. One of the vets turned to Lance.

“Are you sure Hood is coming?”

Detective Lance smirked. “Of course I am. Sent a message saying that everything is set up. My boys will keep the area clear of any humans while the other conservation team, the one with Felicity, direct Hood over here. Something about ‘suspicious activity’ and ‘potential hostage’ I think.” Lance glanced over to the vets setting up the anesthesia darts. “You might want to get a few more of those, knowing Hood he always finds the most unexpected ways to be a pain in the ass.”

On the monitors, Devil sat up slowly and turned his head around scenting the air. 

“Looks like sleeping beauty decided to join us.”

The minutes ticked by as Devil got less groggy and more explorative of the clear cage he was now in. He found the holes in the walls, trying to stick his fingers into them and pushing his face against the wall to scent the outside. It was when Devil froze that all of the conservationist knew the main event was about to happen.

Hood dropped from the ceiling landing in a crouch on the warehouses floor, Arsenal a few seconds behind him. They both rose, Hood with all the grace and focus of a veteran warrior, Arsenal on gangly limbs, glancing at Hood. The omega in green prowled towards the cage. 

“Who are you?” Hood Growled.

Devil’s head turned towards the noise. “Who are you?” He growled back. Arsenal snarled and drew his bow.

On the other side of the monitors Lance scoffed. “Great! We have a fucking pissing match on our hands.”

“I wouldn’t count this as a loss quite yet.” One of the vets replied.

The camera caught Hood making a quick hand gesture to Arsenal, making the young alpha quiet down and lower his bow. The omega in green slunk closer to the cage and sniffed the air. Devil moved to meet him on the other side of the glass but stumbled slightly, not quite completely off the anesthetic, and crawled part of the way. 

“Why are you in my city?”

“Not sure. I want information. Do you know Fisk?”

“No. Are you from the League?”

“No.”

The two omegas fall into silence, smelling each other, crouched down with only the wall of the clear cage between them. Arsenal starts to pace, growling at the shadows of the room. The cameras pick up the two omegas starting to whisper to each other, but the words are too quiet for the microphones. 

Lance tapped on his arm as he watched Arsenal make a patrol sweep of the room, guarding his distracted bearer. The detective let out a breath. “They grow up quick don’t they.” 

Hood made another gesture towards Arsenal without taking his eyes off Devil. Arsenal moved to his bearers side, listening for a second, and then moving around the cage towards the door. He examined the lock, a computerized three deadbolt number, and began trying to force it open. 

“Shouldn't we help him?” Lance asked.

“We’ll give him a few minutes to try.” A conservationist responded. “Good practice.”

After Arsenal resorte to snarling at the lock and throwing his body into it, one of the conservationist hit the lock release button on his computer. The door hissed as the deadlock moved out of place. Arsenal grabbed the door and ripped it open, and then, almost as though he was baffled he got it open, stood there looking at Hood. 

Hood moved from where he was crouched by Devil to the doorway. Devil followed him at a sedated pace, moving out of the cage and grasping onto Hoods arm as he took his first steps in Starling City. Hood thew one of the Devil's arms around his shoulder and supported the drugged omega as he walked. As they both slunk away from the warehouse Arsenal took up the rear, snorting and raising his bow at imaginary threats. 

\------------------------------------------

Devil integrated into Starling City fairly quickly. Three months later it had become usual to see Hood and Devil perched together on a rooftop, shoulders rubbing against each other. It was just as usual to see each of them off on their own, Arsenal sometimes trailing behind them. The hidden camera the conservation managed to get inside Hood’s nest back when he was pregnant with Arsenal confirmed that the two omegas were nesting in the same spot, sleeping curled up together in the blankets. Arsenal had starting making his own blanket nest a few feet away from the main nest a few weeks before Devil arrived, but now he began to construct it with fervor. Some days, however, he still wiggled his way between the two omegas in the main nest.

Detective Lance and Laurel sat at the detective's desk drinking coffee and going over crime reports where the local assassino show up in. 

Laurel scratched her nail into the foam coffee cup. “There is something wrong with Devil.”

“You mean, other than the fact he like Hood?” Lance smirked.

“I’m being serious! I’m not sure” Laurel paused “that he know how to kill his prey. Every report either has Hood or Arsenal making the kill blow for him or him leaving his target bloody and broken on the ground.” 

Lance tilted his head. “That might be good for us. Hell, if we can get Devil onto some of the less critical hunts maybe we can get some of these fuckers in for questioning and doing time behind bars.”

“You're not getting my point. Assassino are supposed to be able to kill quickly and efficiently. Painlessly. Devil just kind of beats his opponents till they stop getting up. It’s not humane.”

“Maybe the kid just can’t be that precise. I mean, he is blind. Anyway I can’t complain much about that. I mean Devil got us, what, five living kidnappers in the last month. Some of them real nasty. What was the one that went to court three days ago, the Mckinley case? The pervert took kids Laurel. Little girls.” 

Detective Lance watched Laurel tap at her coffee cup and leaned back. “Look. I'm not saying it’s perfect, but it’s working. Hood and Arsenal go after the big jobs, the drug lords and the serial killers, and Devil helps the boys in blue with the smaller stuff that slipped through the cracks. The abuse cases, and what was that about the apartment?”

“Someone was raising prices on some rent controlled apartment.”

“Yeah that. Flipped him out. You think we would have found out about that nearly as fast if he didn’t make a big fuss about it? Practically lived on the roof of the precinct till he knew no one was losing their homes.”

The phone rang. 

“Are you going the answer that?” Asked Laurel.

Lance squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his brow. “No. If its important one of the guys will get it. I have been swamped with worthless calls since someone realized I was the assassino liaison on the force and posted my number all over Hell’s Kitchen. Apparently they're under the impression that if they ask nicely enough times we’ll ‘give Devil back’.”

“But they are the ones who drove him off. They still had a kill on sight order on him last month for crying out loud.”

“Your preaching to the choir here.” Lance replied. “And on top of this non stop ringing we apparently have some lawyers coming in to try and take him away from us. But you probably know more about that than I do.”

Laurel nodded and opened one of the files. “Two lawyers from Hell’s Kitchen are trying to make the case that their city has not only the right, but greater need to have Devil there with them. They are trying to reference the fact that Starling was not welcoming to Hood at first as a reason to give Hell’s kitchen a pass on how they reacted to Devil.” 

“That’s bullshit and they know it.” Lance Snorted. “Yeah I tried to take Hood in. Hell, we had no idea what was going on other than someone was dropping bodies with arrows of all things. We had a reason to want to capture him, figure out what the hell was going on. But when the conservationists came and explained what was happening we stopped that. We didn’t like it at first, but after a while we realized it was the right choice.” 

“That was years ago,” Lance continued “and now that assassino are more well know, one happens to show up in Hell’s Kitchen, doesn’t drop a single body, just ruffs up some criminals a bit, and in less than a week of spotting him for the first time they send out a kill order. Just because he happens to be near an explosion. One of what, six that happened that night, in a small city? That's nowhere near the same thing.”

“So you would be willing to be a witness in court then?”

“Yeah. You know I'm good for it Laurel.” Detective Lance took a sip of his cooling coffee and winced. “You should come visit your old man more often. Maybe get some coffee that doesn't taste like sink water.”

Laurel smiled. “I’ll try. But it seems like I have some meetings with Hell’s Kitchen to postpone indefinitely and the conservation asked me to write up some new breeding contracts for them.”

“Does that mean we’ll have more assassino pups getting underfoot soon?” Lance smirked.

“We certainly hope so.”

\------------------------------------------

Coulson observed from base as Hawkeye lept onto the roof Devil and Hood were perched on, both of the omegas watching the smiling alpha suspiciously. Just hours ago he had told Hawkeye to prepare himself for a honeypot mission, something that could be either short or long term depending on receptability of the targets. Hawkeye had frowned, uncertain till Coulson added it was just an assessment mission for potential allies and he would not have to kill whoever he may or may not mate to. 

And that, if he and they wanted to, he could see them again. As long as he was not needed for a mission.

The many benefits of being an Avenger. 

Hawkeye tilted his head, bearing his neck the way Coulson told him and Hood lifted his head sniffing the air. The green clothed omega nudged Devil, sharing some sort of message, before the two omegas crept toward the still alpha. Both of them sniffed at Hawkeye, before Hood stepped back and crouched down, continuing to observe Devil assess the intruder to their territory. 

Devil pulled back slightly and growled. Hawkeye didn’t need to be told to growl back. 

In a split second Hawkeye was on the ground, tripped by one of Devil’s low kicks, and in the next he was on his feet again, blocking blow after blow and getting pushed backwards by the ferocity of the omega’s attack. 

Colson poured himself some coffee. 

Hawkeye broke away from Devil before darting back in for a blow to the stomach and getting his hand twisted for the effort. Hawkeye grabbed onto the arm holding him and twisted further, turning Devils block into his throw, flipping the omega onto the ground. Devil’s legs twisted around the alphas before he rolled over, knocking Hawkeye to the ground with him. Their limb tangled as they wrestled, tumbling over the ground as they both tried to stay on top and pin the other.

They rolled to a stop near Hood’s perch. Devil lay stomach to the ground with Hawkeye straddling him, the omegas tense muscles relaxing as the alpha nipped at his neck. Hawkeye ground his hips into the omega’s ass and panted, breathing in Devil's scent.

The alpha paused and leaned back on his knees to look over at Hood, who still was sitting in the same spot on the roof. Devil continued to lay where Hawkeye put him, boneless and relaxed. Hood stood up, rolling his neck as though to get a crick out, and slunk over. The green clad omega shoved Hawkeye off Devil, smirking as the alpha yowled in protest. Devil shook his head and scrambled onto his feet looking between the other two assassino. 

For a moment everything was still.

Then Hood whipped around and ran straight past Devil, leaping off the rooftop and onto another. Devil swiveled on the balls of his feet, darting after Hood and flipping across the gap between the rooftops with practiced ease. Hawkeye snorted, slowly getting to his feet and rolling his shoulder as he watched the two omegas run. He waited a few seconds, tapping his toes to the rooftop before he chased after them, leaving the view of the cameras Shield had set up. 

The corner of Coulson's mouth twitched as he hit the call button to the head of the Conservation team. 

“You miscalculated Devil’s heat.”

A pause, then “It’s possible his cycle is shifting to match more with Hoods. It’s a trait found in many animals, not just mammals. Either way, it should not be much longer till Devils heat does start.”

“See that it doesn't happen again. If Hood didn’t help the two make friends this meeting could have turned bloody.” Coulson replied. “It’s not all bad news though. They seem to be getting along just fine.”

\------------------------------------------

Foggy Nelson sat on the roof of Harriet Hotel in Starling City, one hand clutching a bottle of scotch as the other cradled a smartphone playing the latest footage, a live feed, of Devil. The injunction against Starling City for claiming Devil as their own had been postponed and postponed for six months now, each time he managed to get another obscure form they demanded, finding out they had "lost" another. For every demand Laurel Lance made to prove that Hell's kitchen was even equipped to take care of Devil, she sent out another declaring they had to prove he even lived there in the first place. Foggy knew his stuff, but even with all of his connections and favors he cashed in Laurel Lance was still a force to be reckoned with.

The video on the phone showed Devil sitting on the edge of a rooftop listening to the city below, one leg dangling off to make room for his expanding belly. Foggy smiled shakily and ran his thumb over the image.

"Hey buddy." he whispered "I heard you were going to be a dad.” The scotched swished in the bottle as it dropped from his hands. Foggy clutched the phone closer. 

“I-I- I’msorry. I’m so sorry.” Foggy’s breath hitched. “I was drunk and I went to your apartment, you nest I know that now, and everything was trashed and I was just so afraid something happened to you, and then you were there on the floor bleeding out. Dressed as the Devil. And I was so stupid, I couldn’t put two and two together and realize what you were. I just kept thinking that you lied to me, that you were dying and-and- I yelled at you. Accused you of- of a lot of cruel things. Said we were no longer friends, that we were never friends but that's not true Matty, it's not true. I was just being stupid. We’ll always be friends, ok?” Foggy tried to rub the tears off of his face with his shirt sleeve.

“It was me wasn't it? That drove you off? The news made that whole claim about the explosions and the cops, but that was days before the apartment. And there I was, in your nest, yelling at you and you were so, so hurt…” He trailed off staring at the screen.

“I miss you so much. We managed to get Fisk behind bars. We couldn’t have done it without you, everyone knows that now. Everyone knows what a hero you are. We keep getting messages to the office asking about you, I- I wish you were there. I wish - I could tell them how you are doing.” In the video, Devil tilts his head like he was listening to something.

“They think there is a new alpha in Hell’s Kitchen. It’s being kept really quiet but he’s not exactly subtle. The cops think that he was just passing through and then caught a whiff of you and started nosing around. Completely destroyed this biker gang and some mobsters. Their calling him Punisher. He’s not like you buddy; doesn't have your save every kitten from every tree attitude. Remember that little boy you saved? The one that got kidnapped by the Russians? He drew you a picture. Got it in the mail, it’s real cute. Its- he drew you buddy. It’s you and him and a big old yellow sun and a rainbow and lets me tell you bud, it really clashes with the scary shadow thing you have going on.” Foggy laughed. 

“I just. I really want to see you again. Am I doing the right thing? Trying to bring you back to Hell’s Kitchen? You always loved it there. Said it was your city and you never wanted to live anywhere else. Did- did I take too long? Do you want to live here now?

Foggy Pressed his face into his knees. 

“Please, I just want to see you one last time. You can hate me but I need to tell you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.”

On the video, Devil shifted to his feet and jumped off screen, running towards whatever he was listening to.

**Author's Note:**

> One of these days I'm going to come up with a Latin name for this species like I originally wanted to, but till then I'm just going to keep using assassino. Think of it as a common name, like Tiger.


End file.
